Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. – Scotty Schaeffler's bid for the Player Championship three-peat ended fairly quietly over the weekend.
Schaeffler was the number one player in the world last year, becoming the first player to win back-to-back players, finishing his lead quite a bit with a four-under par that week.
After a trial week for Schaeffler, who showed some distinctive dissatisfaction in windy conditions on Saturday, he insisted he wasn't far from the top of the game.
“I feel very close,” Schaeffler said. “It definitely brought the wind and the ball closer to the hole. I definitely started hitting some better shots, and I'm starting to feel more comfortable with my irons.
“I definitely feel like I've driven the ball better over the past two weeks. It's definitely some positive things starting this week. I'm looking forward to another preparation week at home and I'm getting ready for Houston.”
Of course, Schaeffler is really preparing for the master. Master has won in two of the past three years.
“I've been closer this week,” Schaeffler said. “I feel like there are a few things I need to work on at home, but I'm going to be very close. Overall, I felt like I've done some good things this week, but I never feel like I'm far away.”
Schaeffler admits that he sometimes feels “a little frustrating,” and says, “it's just one of them. I'm a competitive guy and I felt I could play better this week. I finished 4 under pars per week. I felt like I played better golf than that.”
Therefore, Schaeffler failed to make history this week, like last year.
“It was very special to be able to repeat here. I wanted to do it for the third time,” he saddened. “At the end of the day, I didn't have anything I spent this week, but it's cool to enter the locker room and turn left to the Champions side. There are lots of great memories here from both wins.”
Tom Hoge retained the distinction this week that he made the past seven cuts in the Player Championship, the longest winning streak among players on the field.
Hoge then almost won the tournament.
Ultimately, he just ran short after posting a 10 under par as the clubhouse leader on a Sunday afternoon.
When play was stopped at 1:15pm due to dangerous weather, Hoge stared at a 16-foot birdie putt on the 18th, the final hole of the tournament, and posted an 11-under. Hoge than there was a 4 hour delay to think about it.
When play resumed, his putt slid past the hole.
“I checked out a bit. I hanged out upstairs for food, but didn't really think about it. I honestly wanted to get away from it.” “We hit those putts a lot, so go out and focus on the warm-up when we went. I felt like I had a pretty good putt, I just like having a little more pace on it.”
Hoge shot a 6-under 66 of the day, earning his lowest score in the final round.
“It all feels pretty good today,” he said. “I think it really feels good about how I played the last two days.”
US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley won the hole-in-one on the 13th hole on Sunday.
